to cast one's mind back
2
6.3
- phrasal verb
:
recordar
- I want you to cast your mind back to when you signed that contract.
Examples
-
I cast my mind back to a recent anthology of poets' essays on motherhood, The Grand Permission.
Academic text (2009) -
Cast your mind back to 1994.
Blog text (24) -
Ooh, let me just cast my mind back for a moment.
-
Take your time and cast your mind back.
-
But if we cast our minds back...
-
Cast your mind back to the film, Rocky 2.
-
He knit his brows, casting his mind back over what he remembered of the medieval period of Scottish history.
Fiction book (1991) -
I want you to cast your mind back to when you signed that contract.
-
Now, take a moment and cast your mind back to the days of summer 2012.
-
If you can, cast your mind back to the heady days of 2016.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To think about something from the past
∞
2.4
Remember something from the past
323
2.6
Think about the past, especially a time you remember
92
1.9
Remember things that happened in the past
20
3.7
To remember something from the past
12
4.4
To think back over the events or steps that led to something
7
8.0
To be like something from an earlier time or to mention it
How Deliberate
2
6.3
92
1.9
20
3.7
∞
2.4
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The sense can be partially inferred: 'cast' (to throw/project) + 'mind' + 'back' suggests projecting one’s thoughts into the past, which maps onto 'remembering'. However, the use of 'cast' with 'mind' is a metaphorical collocation that is not fully predictable for an average B1 learner without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Cast one's mind back may come from the image of cast meaning 'to throw', where you imagine throwing your mind back to an earlier time to find a thought. That's why it means 'to remember'.